Wednesday, October 15, 2014

College in Texas apoligizes for rejecting Nigerian applicants due to Ebola scare

A Texas college apologized on Tuesday for what it's calling "incorrect information" after multiple international applicants received a rejection letter saying that "Navarro College is not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases."

Navarro, a two-year public college in Corsicana, is about 60 miles from Dallas, where two health-care workers have been diagnosed with Ebola; the most recent case was confirmed early Wednesday morning. Thomas Eric Duncan, an Ebola-stricken Liberian man who was treated at Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, died last week from the illness.

The letter recipients are from Nigeria, a country that hasn't had a new Ebola case in more than 21 days. The World Health Organization is prepared to declare the Ebola outbreak over in Africa's largest country as soon as Monday.

Nigeria managed to contain the Ebola outbreak to just 20 cases, all connected to a Liberian-American air traveler who brought the virus into the country in late July.

Idris Bello, a Nigerian-American who now lives in Texas, posted Navarro College's rejection letter to Twitter earlier this week. In an e-mail, Bello told The Post that he received a copy of the letter from Kamor Abidogun, a friend of his in Houston who works as a mechanical engineer.Washington Post